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April 10, 2013

Tulle Rosettes

Every so often, I like to browse around certain children's retail shops that would be way too expensive to shop at all the time, but are great for inspiration. I came across these hair flowers at Gymboree and thought, "Hey, I can make those." They are pretty similar to one of the first posts I ever did for this blog, the folded fabric flowers.

The perk of making them yourself is that you can have them in whatever color your heart desires {or at least whatever colors the fabric store caries}.

They are easy, inexpensive, and there are lots of ways you can wear them. Attach them to an alligator clip, hair elastic, a plastic or metal headband, a soft headband, a bobby pin.... I could probably keep going, but I won't.

They would be a perfect way to accent this Easy Elegant Updo. The video is sponsored by Olay and BlogHer TV. You can watch the video to learn how to create the hairstyle, then enter the sweepstakes {links at the end of the post}

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Now for the tutorial.
First, you can download the pattern here. I've included three sizes of flowers. I made the smallest size. You'll need 1/8 yard of tulle and 1/8 yard of matching fabric and a needle and thread. The edges aren't finished, so don't use fabric that will fray a lot {or use fray check}.

Start by cutting ten flowers of your fabric and tulle.

Lay each tulle flower on top of a fabric flower.

Knot your thread and come up from the back of one of the flowers.

Fold another flower into fourths with the tulle on top and sew it to the base flower, as shown.

Repeat with three more flowers, until the base flower is covered.

Add another layer of flowers, staggering them so that the second layer covers the spaces in the first layer.

This is what it will look like with eight flowers sewn to the base flower.

Fold the last flower in half.

Then into thirds by folding one side up...

And then the other side.

Sew it to the flower as close to the end as possible, making sure you go through all layers.

Open it up and make a few stitches. This will give a little volume to the center of your flower.

Fluff the flower a little and attach it to a clip or headband or whatever. You could use spray starch to help it keep its shape; otherwise, just fluff it every so often.

4 comments:

You said you needed 1/8th of a yard for the small flower...have you made the large one and determined how much fabric you used? I'm trying to figure out how much fabric I'd need to make approximately 60 of the large flowers for decorations at my brother's upcoming wedding... Thanks so much for the pattern and the tutorial! I'd been pulling my hair out trying to find a solution for church decorations while trying to stay as much under budget as possible.

I haven't made the larger ones, but what you could do is measure them at their widest point, and get fabric cut in increments of that length {or maybe a little longer, just to be sure}. For example, if the flower is 5 inches across in the pattern, maybe buy fabric in multiples of 6 inches. I hope that makes sense. You can email me at mama.says.sew1 (at) gmail (dot) com if you need more clarification.I'd love to see pictures if you do end up using them!

The Fine Print

Please feel free to use any of my tutorials for personal or small-scale commercial use. If you are making something to sell, a link to my blog is appreciated. Please do not use any of my pictures to sell your items. You are welcome to link to this blog, but do not republish an entire post without permission. Under NO condition are you allowed to use pictures of my children's faces. I make no guarantees as to the accuracy or completeness of any information found on this blog or on sites linked to. I try to be accurate about the positives and negatives when I post pattern reviews. The exception is patterns I've tested. Since I don't usually sew a garment using the final version of the instructions before I share my project, my review of the instructions/sizing might not reflect the end product accurately, so I don't usually go into detail about the pros and cons.